Critical bias prevails in election nominations

With the April 10 parliamentary elections less than three months away, political parties, liberal or conservative, are showing signs of nominating candidates with close connections to their leaders. In a deplorable development, candidates aspiring to represent their constituents are trying to get nominations based on their close relationship with party leaders. While lawmakers not loyal to their leaders cannot even bid for the nomination, those close to their leaders are rushing to constituencies easy for them to win in the election.

In the People Power Party (PPP), more than 30 candidates who have served in the presidential office are running in the conservative party’s home turf — such as Daegu and North Gyeongsang, Busan and South Gyeongsang, and southern Seoul. Despite the PPP emergency committee chair’s recommendation for multi-term lawmakers from South and North Gyeongsang to run in tough constituencies, candidates from the presidential office only pursue constituencies where they can easily win. In a recent poll, nearly 60 percent of the voters feel negatively about their move.

The majority Democratic Party (DP) is no different. It would not nominate legislators not loyal to DP leader Lee Jae-myung. But pro-Lee lawmakers are treated generously despite their transparent flaws. A special advisor to Lee finds no problem with getting the nomination regardless of his past tainted with sexual harassment and drunk driving. He excused himself for drunk drinking citing his stress at an internal probe of his sexual misconduct. That doesn’t make any sense.

The DP has not yet taken any convincing action with Hyun Geun-taek, a DP spokesperson and a close aide to the party leader, despite his volatile comments bordering on sexual harassment. After Rep. Cheong Seong-ho, a close aide to the party leader, sent him a text message suggesting a “cutoff” for the spokesman, the leader replied, “Isn’t that too much?” Hyun may have passed the party’s nomination procedure.

The liberal party last year announced that sexual harassment — and secondary damage — on victims disqualify people for nominations. As suggested in the two controversial cases, however, the decision will most likely be up to the leader. After the internal conflict over the party leader’s tyrannical reign of the party, three of the DP lawmakers disloyal to Lee already left the party on Wednesday followed by the departure by five-term lawmaker Lee Sang-min the next day. The concerns about Lee Jae-myung increasingly privatizing the DP are only deepening.